Laser shock-induced microstructural and mechanical property changes in 7075 aluminum

Abstract

Stress waves generated by a giant pulsed laser were used to change the in-depth microstructural and mechanical properties of 7075 aluminum. The 0.2% offset yield strengths of 7075-T73 and unaged 7075 aluminum were increased as much as 30% over unshocked values. Microstructural analyses showed that laser shocking induced a tangled dislocation substructure similar to explosively shocked aluminum.